In drawing a sheet metal blank into a concavely shaped article with use of a combination of a constraining die and a drawing punch driven by a hydraulic ram, it is important to have marginal portions of the blank firmly gripped to prevent the blank from forming wrinkles by the tensile strains applied thereto. A series of beads and corresponding depressions are thus usually formed on the blank-holding surfaces to have the marginal portions of the blank gripped therebetween. Problems have however been encountered in a stretch drawing apparatus using such blank-holding surfaces. The present invention contemplates provision of a useful solution to these problems.